Home Distiller

I've run a couple dozen barley washes through my pot still + hotplate but yesterday was the first time it's ever puked on me. The boiler's 8 gallons and I had 5.5 gal of wash. In the past I've run up to 6 gallons without issue. Typically I'll turn the heat on as I've transferring the wash, but this time I transferred it in the morning and didn't get the run started until the afternoon. This is the only thing I can think of that was different from my previous runs. So my best guess is that all of the solids settled down to the bottom, and the heat made them foam up like crazy. After about a quart of chunky something-or-other everything cleared up, so I switched containers and ended up with pretty much the same volume and proof (1 gal, 45%) I always get.

Any other ideas as to what could cause the puking?

Read PP's post and the following comments. Should answer your question!
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... g#p7120110

Your theory might be correct - don't know. Another thought - maybe your wash didn't quite finish fermenting. A little left over sugar could also do it.

Posted while Bushman posted.

Bushman wrote:Read PP's post and the following comments. Should answer your question!
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... g#p7120110

Nice, thanks!

Another thought - maybe your wash didn't quite finish fermenting.

I think I'm good here. FG was 1.002! I usually aim for a 72 hour ferm to keep the autolysis at bay, but I really don't know how necessary that is on a small scale. I let this one go a whole week.

Did you let your wash rest and clear for 24-48hrs? Sounds like too many solids

Thought I'd post a follow up...

The next run with the same grain bill puked as well, so I'm pretty sure it's just due to the chemistry of the malt. A buddy of mine who runs a distillery up in NY recommended fermcap, so I figured I'd give it a try. My local homebrew store didn't carry that, but had a defoamer made by Five Star instead. I used 2 drops in a 5 gallon wash and there was no puking, but the output was pretty cloudy. Even towards the end of the run it was coming out cloudy. This is somewhat concerning as the two previous runs came out crystal clear after the initial junk.

For the most recent run, I just used one drop of the defoamer. Got a bit of puke - 200ml or so - and the rest of the run was cloudy too. I'm not sure what to think about it, it's definitely a new puzzle, but I guess in the end it doesn't matter as the spirit run will clear everything up. Still, I kinda miss my shiny water.